1024. Bank of San Francisco (San Francisco, CA)

Bank Information

Episode Type: Suspension → Reopening
Bank Type: state
Start Date: May 10, 1906
Location: San Francisco, California (37.780, -122.419)

Metadata

Model: gpt-5-mini
Short Digest: 0b8491a6

Response Measures

None

Description

Articles discuss San Francisco banks closed after the 1906 earthquake/fire with vaults found intact and banking operations planned to resume June 1, 1906. There is no article describing a depositor run on the Bank of San Francisco itself. Cause of suspension is the local shock (earthquake and fire).

Events (2)

1. May 10, 1906 Suspension

Cause: Local Shock
Cause Details: Banks closed temporarily because of the San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fire; vaults being inspected and banks to reopen June 1, 1906.
Newspaper Excerpt: When the banks open June 1, the city will have more money than at any time in its history. The discovery that the papers and money in the vault of the bank of California are intact ...
Source: newspapers

2. June 1, 1906 Reopening

Newspaper Excerpt: When the banks open June 1, the city will have more money than at any time in its history. The banking situation approaches nearer normal with each day that passes ... banks open June 1.
Source: newspapers

Newspaper Articles (11)

1. December 16, 1905 Deseret Evening News Salt Lake City, UT

Article from Deseret Evening News, December 16, 1905

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(BY SAM P. DAVIS) "The Fig Four," John Mackay. James Flood, William O'Brien and himself. The stock was kleking about with no one, not even a California mud hen, to do R reverence. Mackay was already worth a few hundred thousands accumulated by honest mining in California. The other two ran a "bit" whisky mill somewhere along near the city front in Frisco. Fair took them in and thev soon bought a controlling interest in the Con. Virginia. The stock that had been selling for 15 cents never stopped until It had reached $800 a share. The mine began to yield $3,000,000 I month in dividends. One who lived there in these old bonanza days pauses and brushes the cobwebs from his memory. We all thought it would last forever, and governed ourselfes accordIngly. No one had any use for money except to seatter It. It was a time when the tramp of today might be king of the ledge ere another moon should wane. Sharon was irritated that in the race for prominence someone threatened to pass him. He spoke contemptuously of Mackay and said he would make "John pack his blankets over the Ginger grade," and Mackey sent back the retort: "I can pack a. pair of blankets over any grade, which is a d-d sight more than Sharen can do." Physically Mackay towered above his sarcastic rival. Sharon alluded to the other two as "bit whisky slingers." Flood, when he heard it, swore that he would sell "bit" whisky over the counter of the bank of California. Things were coming to a.crisis. It was "Night on the Numidian desert, and all the lions up." Disaster and Death. The Bonanza firm closed in on their play when they wrecked the bank of California. They slowly gathered in all the indebtedness and called on the bank to liquidate. It was a wild day on California street, when the run began. A mob packed the thoroughfare from Montgomery to Sansome. Frantic men. distracted women and squads of police battling with the mob. The bank was unable to steam the tide and closed its doors. The Bonanza firm had stormed what was considered an impregnable financial ettadel. and captured it. Flood, elated at his success attempted to sell whisky over the counter, to make good his threat but John Mackay, with a strong right hand and good horse sense, grabbed him by the collar and prevented him by main force. Raiston was unable to survive the blow and in a few days the waters of the bay closed over him. Sharon was brought to brook and compelled out of his private fortune to stem the tide of the bank's indebtedness. He did it with his usual flourish of trumpets and got in to the Time light when he made good, but it was the law that made him do it and no generous impulse of his own. Of the two men Ralston was the lion and Sharon the tiger off the partnership. Mackay and Fair were the two pythons that coiled around them in the deadly conflict of the stock jungle and crushed them to death. The Nevada bank then became the strong financial institution of the coast. It was erected as one might say upon the ruins of the Bank of California. The latter bank was rehabilitated but it had to take second place. "The Big Four." Menwhile the Bonanza firm were the lords of finance and lauded as the richest quartet in the world. This was more than a quarter of a century ago and it brings a smile to the faces of the financiers of the present day to think of such a combination as being regarded as heavy weights. Presently Fair got in such bad odor that the Ne. vada bank had to get rid of him. Nearly every crime in the catalogue was laid at his door. Fred Smith, the miner who helped him run the secret drift from the Curry to the Con Virginia, was killed by a man named Kosser, a prize fighter. Fair was openly charged with being behind the killing to get him out of the way and there were hundreds of capitalists who had been be. trayed by Fair and "done up to the queen's taste" as they put it. He was

2. May 10, 1906 The Evening Statesman Walla Walla, WA

Article from The Evening Statesman, May 10, 1906

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SAN FRANCISCO, Cal., May 11.The financial situation is growing better each day. Twenty-one millions in cash held by the banks previous to the fire has been augmeuted by large additional payments, while the daily deposits exceed withdrawals. Five millions are lying idle in the mint for which there is no immediate use. The discovery that the papers and money in the vault of the bank of California are intact leads it to be believed that all of the vaults will be found in good condition. When the banks open June 1, the city will have more money than at any time in its history. The announcement of Assessor Dodge that he will reduce the assessments in the burned district to a nominal amount based on the revised values of land, is received

3. May 11, 1906 The Sun New York, NY

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LIBERAL I e BROAD POLICY TO GOVERN SAV FRANCISCO SETTLEMENTS Please Pime to des mane 14ft without PORTING a Pante Hannine Redness - Normal , anditions is cent Weate for All Call May in The fant that are in around condition Inving inntit what the in nining intenti to de is new topic amond all claimed ment of fire I a broad adjustment of marthquake amilier affitide toward enamited properties in what in representatives of insurance bean promises have Funn to the ruction comthe under writers and are conreport made by William H. hairman of the sub-committee Ma struction on question of liability for damages denamiting and earthquales one of the by writers avid to-day impaties are not responsible for losses We do not insure eart homakes But you may has sure as impanies will be sufferers in this matter rather than policyholders If building was thrown downby the earthquake and then burned two days later its value at the time it was burned was not what was before the earthquake certain that polioyholders will or nearly that prove But 15 many almost all instances offered no damage They from their earthquake property will be ready with proofs and the companies cannot In this way area in the earthquaies combat their them burned most district of the must be paid There not the slightest doubt that the insurance companies will have to pay all JOANCH passed by the dynamiting of buildI to prevent the spread of the fire. that question to ing submitted must three lawyers just and they all agree that we pay if loss were caused by water from fire engines If the building in which we are was on fire and water used to put out that fire flooded the buildings next door we would have to pay the loss by water damage, though we do not say we will pay lesses by water In the matter of the general payment of insurance losses people must be patient If the insurance companies were forced to hrow all their securities on the market at once there would be a financial panic. My company could not stand a shrinkage of $1,000,000 or $2,000,000 just now on top of all its losses So the companies must have reasonable time to get their money in hand. The banking situation approaches nearer normal with each day that passes. One of the vaults of the Bank of California was opened yesterday and everything within wasfound as perfect as the day it was placed there It is believed that the vaults of the other banks may be opened without danger. From the informal discussion of several committees on structural plans it is safe to predict that there will be no limit placed the on the height of buildings within fire limits. The question has been a mooted one since the fire, but the members of the committees are almost unanimous in declaring in favor of an unlimited number of stories for a "Class A' structure San Francisco is to have a fifteen story steel building constructed after the manner of a steel ship. All the walls are to be of steel plates. It will be the first building of its kind in the world. It is the George Whittell building and its framework withstood the fire. The building will cost $275,000 and will be ready for tenants in six months. Twenty-one days have passed since the beginning of the fire, and still flames are leaping from ruined buildings near the waterfront Five large fires were counted yesterday in the vicinity of Spear and Beale streets. The most curious of these lingering fires was at Mission and Spear streets, where, on the site of the Brandenstein warehouse, huge piles of coffee are still roasting, though long since overdone. Several tons of tea are doing their best to add to the aroma. Another fire, which promises to outlast all the others, is in the premises of the Richmond Coal Company. where many carloads of coal are burring. Beginning to-morrow at noon, it is planned Major Fobiger to have five stations for by the distribution of hot meals. Meals will be furnished to all who apply at the uniform rate of 15 cents. Any person unable to pay the price of a meal will get a ticket at the relief station. The San Francisco that remains will soon have gas for illuminating and ook ing. In answer to an inquiry of Mayor Schmitz, W. H. Leaby said: 'The mains have been repaired at every point where it was in the least suspected that there might be a break and gas will be turned on probably on Monday. -

4. May 16, 1906 The River Press Fort Benton, MT

Article from The River Press, May 16, 1906

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San Francisco Has Money. SAN FRANCISCO, May 10.-The financial situation in this city is grow. ind brighter every day. The $20,000,000 in cash which was held in the local banks previous to the fire has been augmented by large additional payments, while the daily deposits are exceeding the withdrawals. Five million dollars is lying in the mint to be used for whatever emergency may arise. The discovery of money and papers in the vault of the Bank of California intact leads the officials to believe that the contents of all the vaults will be found in good condition. When the banks open June 1 the city will have more money than at any time in its history. The announcement that Assessor Dodge will reduce the assessment in the burned district to a nominal amount based on revised values of land is received with great favor. This year assessment roll will probable show a decrease of $200,000,000. With the completion of five cooking plants in the relief section, from which warm meals will be served for 15 cents to eack person, a great saving in the relief work will be accomplished. From 15,000 to 20,000 persons will be fed at these places and by the addition of the meal ticket system, repeaters will be eliminated and workmen will be encouraged to buy their own meals. Thewnty-six free medical dispensaries have been located by the board of health, at which many refugees are being treated.

5. December 24, 1907 Los Angeles Herald Los Angeles, CA

Article from Los Angeles Herald, December 24, 1907

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HOLIDAYS END; BANKS ARE IN GOOD CONDITION By Associated Press. SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 23.-The period of legal holidays declared by Governor Gillett to meet the recent at financial stringency having of expired the leadmidnight last Saturday all ing banks transacted business as usual today. Normal conditions prevailed, and there was no run nor crush of peopl anywhere. Many deposits were made, and the withdrawal of funds did not exceed the ar unt customary during a day's business. Clearing house certificates continued in circulation, but when coin was required it was readily obtainable. The principal bankers unite in declaring that the financial trouble, which for a time caused some inconvenience, is a thing of the past. "The public seems perfectly quiet the and calms" said R. M. Tobin of Hibernia Savings bank, the largest savings institution in the city. "We are doing the usual Christmas business to enable the depositors to make their holiday purchases. Beyond that there are practically no requests for withdrawals. Any withdrawals made at present mean the loss of six months' interest. The situation so far as the savings banks are concerned is excellent. We are not even enforcing the rule of requiring notices of thirty to ninety days and such notices as were given during the holidays have practically all been cancelled." Certificates were generally accepted and in only a few instances was coin demanded and insisted upon. The savings banks have the protection of from thirty to ninety days' notice required for withdrawals. Beyond the drawing of small sums with which to make Christmas purchases there were few requests for withdrawals from the savings banks. Irving S. Moulton, cashier of the Bank of California, said: "Business today is normal. I have not noticed any differences between today and any Monday during the past three weeks. "So far as this bank is concerned it has met all demands made upon it for several weeks." Little Demand for Coin "There has been little or no demand from country banks for shipments of coin, which indicates that they are in good shape to take care of their business," said Cashier King of the WellsFargo Nevada National bank. I. W. Hellman, jr., vice president and manager of the Union Trust company. declared that today was the quietest Monday his Institution had experienced for several weeks. E. W. Wilson, vice president of the American National bank. said: 'Business today is about the same with us as on any Monday during the past month, with a possible improvement. As a matter of fact the balances of the clients of nearly all the banks have been growing smaller since the holidays were declared because of the inability of merchants and others to make collections. I think the financial situation in this city would have been he'ter had the holidays been declared off three weeks ago." At the First Nationau bank it was stated that owing to the scarcity of gold certificates would continue in circulation for some weeks yet, but that the smaller denominations were being rapidly retired. Demands for money were met with half coin and half in certificates. President Homer S. King of the Clearing House association in an interview said: "There is no excitement and no uneasiness. Business is going along just as it has been going on for the past month. Patrons who need gold are getting it and have been gretting it for three weeks. If we think the applicants want to hoard it they do not get it. Whenever there is a need for gold we supply it." When asked as to what action would be taken in regard to the, retirement of clearing house certificates President King said: "We are retiring the certificates gradually, but it will take some time. Just how long I can't say. No more certificates are being issued. The total amount in circulation is about $5.000,000. Everybody realizes that they are as good as gold and they find ready acceptance." "The clearances today." he said,

6. April 25, 1908 Charlevoix County Herald East Jordan, MI

Article from Charlevoix County Herald, April 25, 1908

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# CHAPTER V. Doddridge Knapp. It was past ten o'clock of the morning when the remembrance of the mysterious note I had received the preceding night came on me. I took the slip from my pocket, and read its contents once more. It was perplexing enough, but it furnished me with an idea. Of course I could not take money intended for Henry Wilton. But here was the first chance to get at the heart of this dreadful business. The writer of the note, I must suppose, was the mysterious employer. If I could see her I could find the way of escape from the dangerous burden of Henry Wilton's personality and mission. But which bank could be meant? The only names I knew were the Bank of California, whose failure in the previous year had sent echoes even into my New England home, and the Anglo-Californian Bank, on which I held a draft. The former struck me as the more likely place of appointment, and after some skilful navigating I found myself at the corner of California and Sansome streets, before the building through which the wealth of an empire had flowed. I watched closely the crowd that passed in and out of the treasure-house, and assumed what I hoped was an air of prosperous indifference to my surroundings. No one appeared to notice me. There were eager men and cautious men, and men who looked secure and men who looked anxious, but neither man nor woman was looking for me. Plainly I had made a bad guess. A hasty walk through several other banks that I could see in the neighborhood gave no better result, and I had to acknowledge that this chance of penetrating the mystery was gone. I speculated for the moment on what the effects might be. To neglect an order of this kind might result in the with-drawal of the protection that had saved my life, and in turning me over to the mercies of the banditti who thought I knew something of the whereabouts of a boy. As I reflected thus, I came upon a crowd massed about the steps of a great granite building in Pine Street; a whirlpool of men, it seemed, with cross-currents and eddies, and from the whole rose the murmur of excited voices. It was the Stock Exchange, the gambler's paradise, in which millions were staked, won and lost, and ruin and affluence walked side by side. As I watched the swaying, shouting mass with wonder and amusement, a thrill shot through me. Upon the steps of the building, amid the crowd of brokers and speculators, I saw a tall, broad-shouldered man of fifty or fifty-five, his face keen, shrewd and hard, broad at the temples and tapering to a strong jaw, a yellow-gray mustache and imperial half-hiding and half-revealing the firm lines of the mouth, with the mark of the wolf strong upon the whole. It was a face never to be forgotten as long as I should hold memory at all. It was the face I had seen twelve hours before in the lantern flash in the dreadful alley, with the cry of murder ringing in my ears. Then it was lighted by the fierce fires of rage and hatred, and marked with the chagrin of baffled plans. Now it was cool, good-humored, alert for the battle of the Exchange that had already begun. But I knew it for the same, and was near crying aloud that here was a murderer. I clutched my nearest neighbor by the arm, and demanded to know who it was. "Doddridge Knapp," replied the man civilly. "He's running the Chollar deal now, and if I could only guess which side he's on, I'd make a fortune in the next few days. He's the King of 'Pine Street." While I was looking at the King of the Street and listening to my neighbor's tales of his operations, Doddridge Knapp's eyes met mine. To my amazement there was a look of recognition in them. Yet he made no sign, and in a moment was gone. This, then, was the enemy I was

7. May 15, 1908 The Jasper Weekly Courier Jasper, IN

Article from The Jasper Weekly Courier, May 15, 1908

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# CHAPTER V. # Doddridge Knapp. It was past ten o'clock of the morning when the remembrance of the mysterious note I had received the preceding night came on me. I took the slip from my pocket, and read its contents once more. It was perplexing enough, but it furnished me with an idea. Of course I could not take money intended for Henry Wilton. But here was the first chance to get at the heart of this dreadful business. The writer of the note, I must suppose, was the mysterious employer. If I could see her I could find the way of escape from the dangerous burden of Henry Wilton's personality and mission. But which bank could be meant? The only names I knew were the Bank of California, whose failure in the previous year had sent echoes even into my New England home, and the Anglo-Californian Bank, on which I held a draft. The former struck me as the more likely place of appointment, and after some skilful navigating I found myself at the corner of California and Sansome streets, before the building through which the wealth of an empire had flowed. I watched closely the crowd that passed in and out of the treasure-house, and assumed what I hoped was an air of prosperous indifference to my surroundings. No one appeared to notice me. There were eager men and cautious men, and men who looked secure and men who looked anxious, but neither man nor woman was looking for me. Plainly I had made a bad guess. A hasty walk through several other banks that I could see in the neighborhood gave no better result, and I had to acknowledge that this chance of penetrating the mystery was gone. I speculated for the moment on what the effects might be. To neglect an order of this kind might result in the with-drawal of the protection that had saved my life, and in turning me over to the mercies of the banditti who thought I knew something of the whereabouts of a boy. As I reflected thus, I came upon a crowd massed about the steps of a great granite building in Pine Street; a whirlpool of men, it seemed, with cross-currents and eddies, and from the whole rose the murmur of excited voices. It was the Stock Exchange, the gambler's paradise, in which millions were staked, won and lost, and ruin and affluence walked side by side. As I watched the swaying, shouting mass with wonder and amusement, a thrill shot through me. Upon the steps of the building, amid the crowd of brokers and speculators, I saw a tall, broad-shouldered man of fifty or fifty-five, his face keen, shrewd and hard, broad at the temples and tapering to a strong jaw, a yellow-gray mustache and imperial half-hiding and half-revealing the firm lines of the mouth, with the mark of the wolf strong upon the whole. It was a face never to be forgotten as long as I should hold memory at all. It was the face I had seen twelve hours before in the lantern flash in the dreadful alley, with the cry of murder ringing in my ears. Then it was lighted by the fierce fire of rage and hatred, and marked with the chagrin of baffled plans. Now it was cool, good-humored, alert for the battle of the Exchange that had already begun. But I knew it for the same, and was near crying aloud that here was a murderer. I clutched my nearest neighbor by the arm, and demanded to know what it was. "Doddridge Knapp," replied the man civilly. "He's running the Chol-lar deal now, and if I could only guess which side he's on, I'd make a fortune in the next few days. He's the King of Pine Street." While I was looking at the King of the Street and listening to my neighbor's tales of his operations, Doddridge Knapp's eyes met mine. To my amazement there was a look of recognition in them. Yet he made no sign, and in a moment was gone. This, then, was the enemy I was

8. May 23, 1908 Charlevoix County Herald East Jordan, MI

Article from Charlevoix County Herald, May 23, 1908

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# CHAPTER XI. # The Den of the Wolf. The street had changed its appearance in the two or three hours since I had made my way from the Exchange through the pallid, panic stricken mob. There were still thousands of people between the corner of Montgomery Street and Leidesdorff and the little alley itself was packed full of shouting, struggling traders But there was an air of confidence, almost of buoyancy, in place of the gloom and terror that had lowered over the street at noon. Plainly the panic was over, and men were inspired by a belief that "stocks were going up." I made a few dispositions accordingly. Taking Doddridge Knapp's hint I engaged another broker as a relief to Eppner, a short fat man, with the baldest head I ever saw, a black beard and a hook-nose, whose remarkable activity and scattering charges had attracted my attention in the morning session. Wallbridge was his name, I found and he proved to be as intelligent as I could wish-a merry little man, with a joke for all things, and a flow of words that was almost overwhelming "Omega? Yes," chuckled the stout little broker, after he had assured himself of my financial standing. "But you ought to have bought this morning, if that's what you want. It was hell popping and the roof giving 'way all at once." The little man had an abundant stock of profanity which he used unconsciously and with such original variations that one almost forgot the blasphemy of it while listening to him. "You ought to have been there," he continued, "and watched the boys shell 'em out!" "Yes, I heard you had lively times.' "Boiling," he said with coruscating additions in the way of speech and gesture. "If it hadn't been for Decker and some fellow we havn't had a chance to make out yet the bottom of the market would have been resting on the roof of the lower regions.' The little man's remark was slightly more direct and forcible, but this will do for a revised version. "Decker!" I exclaimed, pricking up my ears. "I thought he had quit the market." As I had never heard of Mr. Decker before that moment this was not exactly the truth, but I thought it would serve me better. "Decker out of it!" gasped Wallbridge, his bald head positively glistening at the absurdity of the idea "He'll be out of it when he's carried out." "I meant out of Omega. Is he getting up a deal?" The little broker looked vexed, as though it crossed his mind that he had said too much. "Oh, no. Guess not. Don't think he is," he said rapidly. "Just wanted to save the market, I guess. If Omega had gone five points lower there would have been the sickest times in the Street that we've seen since the Bank of California closed and the shop across the way"-pointing his thumb at the Exchange-"had to be shut up. But maybe it wasn't Decker, you know. That's just what was rumored on the Street, you know." I suspected that my little broker knew more than he was willing to tell, but I forbore to press him further, and gave him the order to buy all the Omega stock he could pick up under fifty. In the Exchange all was excitement. and the first call brought a roar of struggling brokers. I could make nothing of the clamor, but my nearest neighbor shouted in my ear: "A strong market!" "It looks that way," I shouted back It certainly was strong in noise. I made out at last that prices were being held to the figures of the morning's session, and in some cases were forced above them. Forty-five-forty-seven-fifty-five- Omega was going up by leaps. I blessed the forethought that had suggested to me to put a limit on Wallbridge at fifty. The contest grew warmer. I could follow with difficulty the course of the proceedings, but I knew that Omega was bounding upward. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Abstemiousness Pays. The future is to the people who are strictly sober The Japanese offic

9. June 12, 1908 The Jasper Weekly Courier Jasper, IN

Article from The Jasper Weekly Courier, June 12, 1908

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# CHAPTER XI. # The Den of the Wolf. The street had changed its appear- ance in the two or three hours since I had made my way from the Ex- change through the pallid, panic- stricken mob. There were still thou- sands of people between the corner of Montgomery Street and Leidesdorff, and the little alley itself was packed full of shouting, struggling traders. But there was an air of confidence, al- most of buoyancy, in place of the gloom and terror that had lowered over the street at noon. Plainly the panic was over, and men were in- spired by a belief that "stocks were going up." I made a few dispositions according- ly. Taking Doddridge Knapp's hint I engaged another broker as a relief to Eppner, a short fat man, with the baldest head I ever saw, a black beard and a hook-nose, whose remarkable activity and scattering charges had attracted my attention in the morning session. Wallbridge was his name, I found, and he proved to be as intelligent as I could wish-a merry little man, with a joke for all things, and a flow of words that was almost overwhelming. "Omega? Yes," chuckled the stout little broker, after he had assured him- self of my financial standing. "But you ought to have bought this morn- ing, if that's what you want. It was hell popping and the roof giving 'way all at once." The little man had an abundant stock of profanity which he used unconsciously and with such original variations that one almost for- got the blasphemy of it while listen- ing to him. "You ought to have been there," he continued, "and watched the boys shell 'em out!" "Yes, I heard you had lively times." "Boiling," he said with coruscating additions in the way of speech and gesture. "If it hadn't been for Deck- er and some fellow we havn't had a chance to make out yet the bottom of the market would have been resting on the roof of the lower regions." The little man's remark was slightly more direct and forcible, but this will do for a revised version. "Decker!" I exclaimed, pricking up my ears. "I thought he had quit the market." As I had never heard of Mr. Decker before that moment this was not ex- actly the truth, but I thought it would serve me better. "Decker out of it!" gasped Wall- bridge, his bald head positively glist- ening at the absurdity of the idea. "He'll be out of it when he's carried out." "I meant out of Omega. Is he get- ting up a deal?" The little broker looked vexed, as though it crossed his mind that he had said too much. "Oh, no. Guess not. Don't think he is," he said rapidly. "Just wanted to save the market, I guess. If Omega had gone five points lower there would have been the sickest times in the Street that we've seen since the Bank of California closed and the shop across the way"-pointing his thumb at the Exchange-"had to be shut up. But maybe it wasn't Decker, you know. That's just what was rumored on the Street, you know." I suspected that my little broker knew more than he was willing to tell, but I forbore to press him further, and gave him the order to buy all the Omega stock he could pick up under fifty. In the Exchange all was excitement, and the first call brought a roar of struggling brokers. I could make nothing of the clamor, but my nearest neighbor shouted in my ear: "A strong market!" "It looks that way," I shouted back. It certainly was strong in noise. I made out at last that prices were being held to the figures of the morn- ing's session, and in some cases were forced above them. Forty-five- forty-seven -fifty-five- Omega was going up by leaps. I blessed the forethought that had sug- gested to me to put a limit on Wall- bridge at fifty. The contest grew warmer. I could follow with difficulty the course of the proceedings, but 1 knew that Omega was bounding up ward. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Abstemiousness Pays. The future is to the people who are

10. July 31, 1908 The Montgomery Tribune Montgomery City, MO

Article from The Montgomery Tribune, July 31, 1908

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# CHAPTER V. Doddridge Knapp. It was past ten o'clock of the morning when the remembrance of the mysterious note I had received the preceding night came on me. I took the slip from my pocket, and read its contents once more. It was perplexing enough, but it furnished me with an idea. Of course I could not take money intended for Henry Wilton. But here was the first chance to get at the heart of this dreadful business. The writer of the note, I must suppose, was the mysterious employer. If I could see her I could find the way of escape from the dangerous burden of Henry Wilton's personality and mission. But which bank could be meant? The only names I knew were the Bank of California, whose failure in the previous year had sent echoes even into my New England home, and the Anglo-Californian Bank, on which I held a draft. The former struck me as the more likely place of appointment, and after some skilful navigating I found myself at the corner of California and Sansome streets, before the building through which the wealth of an empire had flowed. I watched closely the crowd that passed in and out of the treasure-house, and assumed what I hoped was an air of prosperous indifference to my surroundings. No one appeared to notice me. There were eager men and cautious men, and men who looked secure and men who looked anxious, but neither man nor woman was looking for me. Plainly I had made a bad guess. A hasty walk through several other banks that I could see in the neighborhood gave no better result, and I had to acknowledge that this chance of penetrating the mystery was gone. I speculated for the moment on what the effects might be. To neglect an order of this kind might result in the with-drawal of the protection that had saved my life, and in turning me over to the mercies of the banditti who thought I knew something of the whereabouts of a boy. As I reflected thus, I came upon a crowd massed about the steps of a great granite building in Pine Street; a whirlpool of men, it seemed, with cross-currents and eddies, and from the whole rose the murmur of excited voices. It was the Stock Exchange, the gambler's paradise, in which millions were staked, won and lost, and ruin and affluence walked side by side. As I watched the swaying, shouting mass with wonder and amusement, a thrill shot through me. Upon the steps of the building, amid the crowd of brokers and speculators, I saw a tall, broad-shouldered man of fifty or fifty-five, his face keen, shrewd and hard, broad at the temples and tapering to a strong jaw, a "yellow-gray mustache and imperial half-hiding and half-revealing the firm lines of the mouth, with the mark of the wolf strong upon the whole. It was a face never to be forgotten as long as I should hold memory at all. It was the face I had seen twelve hours before in the lantern flash in the dreadful alley, with the cry of murder ringing in my ears. Then it was lighted by the fierce fires of rage and hatred, and marked with the chagrin of baffled plans. Now it was cool, good-humored, alert for the battle of the Exchange that had already begun. But I knew it for the same, and was near crying aloud that here was a murderer. I clutched my nearest neighbor by the arm, and demanded to know who it was. "Doddridge Knapp," replied the man civilly. "He's running the Chollar deal now, and if I could only guess which side he's on, I'd make a fortune in the next few days. He's the King of Pine Street." While I was looking at the King of the Street and listening to my neighbor's tales of his operations, Doddridge Knapp's eyes met mine. To my amazement there was a look of recognition in them. Yet he made no sign, and in a moment was gone. This, then, was the enemy I was

11. August 28, 1908 The Montgomery Tribune Montgomery City, MO

Article from The Montgomery Tribune, August 28, 1908

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# CHAPTER XI. # The Den of the Wolf. The street had changed its appea- ance in the two or three hours since I had made my way from the Ex- change through the pallid, panic stricken mob. There were still thou- sands of people between the corner of Montgomery Street and Leidesdorff, and the little alley itself was packed full of shouting, struggling traders. But there was an air of confidence, al- most of buoyancy, in place of the gloom and terror that had lowered over the street at noon. Plainly the panic was over, and men were in- spired by a belief that "stocks were going up." I made a few dispositions according- ly. Taking Doddridge Knapp's hint I engaged another broker as a relie to Eppner, a short fat man, with the baldest head I ever saw, a black beard and a hook-nose, whose remarkable activity and scattering charges had attracted my attention in the morning session. Wallbridge was his name, I found, and he proved to be as intelligent as I could wish-a merry little man, with a joke for all things, and a flow of words that was almost overwhelming "Omega? Yes," chuckled the stout little broker, after he had assured him- self of my financial standing. "But you ought to have bought this morn- ing, if that's what you want. It was hell popping and the roof giving 'way all at once." The little man had an abundant stock of profanity which he used unconsciously and with such original variations that one almost for- got the blasphemy of it while listen- ing to him. "You ought to have been there," he continued, "and watched the boys shell 'em out!" "Yes, I heard you had lively times." "Boiling," he said with coruscating additions in the way of speech and gesture. "If it hadn't been for Deck- er and some fellow we havn't had a chance to make out yet the bottom of the market would have been resting on the roof of the lower regions." The little man's remark was slightly more direct and forcible, but this will do for a revised version. "Decker!" I exclaimed, pricking up my ears. "I thought he had quit the market." As I had never heard of Mr. Decker before that moment this was not ex- actly the truth, but I thought it would serve me better. "Decker out of it!" gasped Wall- bridge, his bald head positively glist- ening at the absurdity of the idea. "He'll be out of it when he's carried out." "I meant out of Omega. Is he get- ting up a deal?" The little broker looked vexed, as though it crossed his mind that he had said too much. "Oh, no. Guess not. Don't think he is," he said rapidly. "Just wanted to save the market, I guess. If Omega had gone five points lower there would have been the sickest times in the Street that we've seen since the Bank of California closed and the shop across the way"-pointing his thumb at the Exchange-"had to be shut up. But maybe it wasn't Decker, you know. That's just what was rumored on the Street, you know." I suspected that my little broker knew more than he was willing to tell, but I forbore to press him further, and gave him the order to buy all the Omega stock he could pick up under fifty. In the Exchange all was excitement, and the first call brought a roar of struggling brokers. I could make nothing of the clamor, but my nearest neighbor shouted in my ear: "A strong market!" "It looks that way," I shouted back! It certainly was strong in noise. I made out at last that prices were being held to the figures of the morn- ing's session, and in some cases were forced above them. Forty-five- forty-seven -fifty-five- Omega was going up by leaps. I blessed the forethought that had sug- gested to me to put a limit on Wall- bridge at fifty. The contest grew warmer. I could follow with difficulty the course of the proceedings, but I knew that Omega was bounding up- ward.